In 2003, we wrote a critical reply to Frank Coffield's reflections in this journal on the significance of the Performance and Innovation Unit's project on workforce development for the future direction of skills policy in England. As Coffield made clear in a rejoinder, underpinning our arguments are fundamental disagreements about what would be…

Studies show that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are reluctant to employ graduates and to up-skill existing employees. The cultural barriers exemplified by this unwillingness limit the ability of SMEs to exploit new knowledge and innovate. In conjunction with its goal of producing a "knowledge economy" the UK government is committed to…

Vocational education, once the non-college prep track, has evolved with the times and the changing work force. Now called career and technology education, it is playing a major role in driving high school reform toward smaller learning communities and more focused futures for students. In this article, the author looks at one district's approach.…

This article presents an interview with Emily Stover DeRocco, Assistant Secretary of the Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. In this interview, the assistant secretary answers probing questions about the Community College Initiative, the workforce system, and the training funds directed through the workforce system.

Training programs purporting to develop emotional intelligence (EI) are widely available, yet to date few empirical studies have appeared in the literature providing support that training results in demonstrable changes to EI, and more significantly whether these changes can then be traced to more positive individual or organizational outcomes.…

In an effort to more comprehensively understand economics as a foundation of human resource development (HRD), this article reviews economic theories and models pertinent to HRD research and theory building. By examining neoclassical and neoinstitutional schools of contemporary economics, especially the screening model and the internal labor…

The work of the human resource development (HRD) practitioner is continuously evolving. Human resource development is now expected to make a strategic level contribution and contribute to individual and organizational effectiveness. Human resource development practitioners are increasingly required to network and build relationships to obtain…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of strategic human resource development (HRD) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with specific reference to key issues around training, development and education as well as an emerging issue of significance, age diversity management. Design/Methodology/Approach: The approach…

This article argues that discourse analysis can be utilized in conjunction with other forms of analysis to develop a more critical teaching and research agenda for Human Resource Development (HRD); in particular this article suggests that the introduction of a discourse analysis perspective can support and facilitate the development of critically…

The domains of management education and management development have remained relatively distinct. Recent trends suggest a blurring of the boundaries of these worlds. There is a growing corporate confidence that in-company provision has equivalent, even superior, claims to relevant knowledge and warrant academic recognition. This paper looks at the…

Community college leaders recognize that being at the center of the economic and workforce development universe brings many privileges, but there are also challenges and consistent demands for accountability. The center of such a universe can be an unstable place unless there are talented and committed individuals at the core who share the same…

Over the next decade, businesses in New England will be facing a complicated set of problems in finding a reliable and prepared workforce. Businesses are now spending as much as $23 billion a year to train their employees. Community colleges have believed from their inception, that, given the opportunity, they could offer the solution to business'…

This paper examines the authors' experiences as action learning set facilitators within a public sector organisation undergoing change. Our objectives were to assist in the identification of internal and external drivers for change and to work with the set to explore how people's roles and responsibilities might be enhanced and developed in a…

For Mexico, a country characterised by a high degree of inequality both with regard to income and education, concepts such as the "knowledge-based economy" and Lifelong Learning are even more elusive than in other countries. Given its poor school system and the large part of the adult population who are without any basic educational…

In this new century, opportunities exist to help advance America's greatness in the midst of many challenges. Energy, water, food, environment, health, economic productivity, global competitiveness, and the quality of the living environments are all paramount to the future. Extension is, as a part of higher education, prepared to create new…